Agenda-based regulation of study-time allocation: When agendas override item-based monitoring.

Abstract

Theories of self-regulated study assume that learners monitor item difficulty when making decisions about which items to select for study. To complement such theories, the authors propose an agenda-based regulation (ABR) model in which learners' study decisions are guided by an agenda that learners develop to prioritize items for study, given their goals and task constraints. Across 4 experiments, the authors orthogonally manipulated 1 task constraint-the reward structure of the task-with objective item difficulty, so that learners could use either item difficulty or potential reward in deciding how to allocate their study time. Learners studied items, were tested, and then selected half the items for restudy. As predicted by the ABR model, reward structure drove item selection more than did item difficulty, which demonstrates learners' agendas can override the effects of monitoring item difficulty in the allocation of study time.

Generating keywords improves metacomprehension and self-regulation in elementary and middle school children

“…Models of self-regulated learning suggest that learning involves both metacognitive monitoring and control, or regulation of study (e.g., Ariel, Dunlosky, & Bailey, 2009;Nelson & Narens, 1990;Thiede & Dunlosky, 1999;Winne & Hadwin, 1998). To illustrate, consider a student preparing for an upcoming examination: The student has a goal of mastering the material.…”

When do learners shift from habitual to agenda-based processes when selecting items for study?

“…We chose to manipulate the reward associated with learning items because people typically allocate more effort to learning items with a high (vs. lower) reward (Castel, 2007;Castel, Balota, & McCabe, 2009;Castel, Benjamin, Craik, & Watkins, 2002;Dunlosky & Thiede, 1998;Kahneman & Peavler, 1969;Soderstrom & McCabe, 2011), and reward can even override the influence of item difficulty on study decisions (Ariel et al, 2009). Thus, when studying items that vary in reward for learning, an obvious strategy to maximize performance would be to construct an agenda to prioritize the high-reward items for study first.…”

“…These include deciding (a) the order in which to select items for study, (b) how long to study an item before moving on to the next one, and (c) when to terminate a study session (Dunlosky & Ariel, 2011b). Decades of research on study time allocation have highlighted a variety of factors that influence these decisions, including the reward associated with learning items (Ariel, Dunlosky, & Bailey, 2009;Dunlosky & Thiede, 1998;Soderstrom & McCabe, 2011), the subjective difficulty of learning items (for reviews, see Dunlosky & Ariel, 2011b;Son & Metcalfe, 2000), a learner's intrinsic motivation (Pintrich, 2000;Pintrich & De Groot, 1990), and even reading habits (Ariel, Al-Harthy, Was, & Dunlosky, 2011;Dunlosky & Ariel, 2011a).…”

“…Agenda-based processes involve learners constructing an agenda-or simple plan-that they use to regulate their study (Ariel et al, 2009;Winne & Hadwin, 1998). Learners construct agendas in response to environmental conditions to achieve their learning goals efficiently (Thiede & Dunlosky, 1999).…”

Is Latency to Test Deadline a Predictor of Student Test Performance?

“…The easy content is in the student's region of proximal learning. According to the agendabased regulation model, studying is assumed to be goal-oriented (Ariel, Dunlosky, & Bailey, 2009). Students allocate study time in a way that will efficiently maximize the attainment of task goals.…”